Nigerians condemn education authorities over Beninois varsities racket for varsity, polytechnic, NYSC certificates

Universities in Benin Republic recently blacklisted by the Federal Ministry of Education may have found ways to circumvent the sanction by colluding with educational institutions in Nigeria to award Nigerian degrees and certificates to students on their behalf.

With the lingering crisis in the education sector characterized by long strike actions by staff unions, many Nigerian student had flooded neighboring West Africa educational institutions most of which were considered of low academic standards and could not scale accreditation by the National University Commission, NUC.

However, with the recent development it seems that practice has continued in spite of government sanctions, which threaten s the academic future of many unsuspecting Nigerian students.

The action involves the payment of huge sums by the universities to their Nigerian collaborators.

Consequently, many Nigerians have expressed anger over such “unconscionable oversight failure on the part of the federal ministry of education to detect the fraudulent scheme between some Federal Government blacklisted universities and some Nigerian polytechnics” where the latter allegedly smuggle the names of students from these out-of-favor universities in Benin Republic to the lists of students forwarded to NYSC for mandatory one year national service.

The report showed that these Beninoise universities obtained Higher National Diploma and National Diploma certificates for their graduates and students due for graduation through the private polytechnics.

Private institutions involved 

When the story was first reported by Punch through its undercover reporter, the Federal Ministry of Education denied the existence of such development.

Later, the Ministry reportedly set up a committee to probe the alleged fraudulent means these blacklisted universities in the Republic of Benin were devising to mobilize their graduates for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme.

It was learnt that representatives of the committee, drawn from the National Board for Technical Education, two weeks ago paid a visit to PUNCH, in the respect of its exclusive report on the embarrassing rackets.

It was gathered that after issuing the HND certificates, the polytechnics would then embark on mobilizing the affected students for the mandatory NYSC.

This, of course, comes at great cost, as the students were reportedly asked to pay about N400,000 to obtain the HND certificates from the polytechnics, mostly located in the South-West and South-East states.

A member of the investigating committee and Assistant Director at the NBTE Inspectorate Department, Halilu Aminu, stated that following the revelation by Punch, the Ministry of Education directed the NBTE to carry out an investigation into the matter with a view to unravelling the perpetrators.

He noted that while efforts had been made to get the NYSC and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board side of the issue, the visit to Punch was necessary to further get more information that would prove useful to the ongoing investigations into the matter since it was the paper that broke the news.

Aminu said, “We saw your publication on Saturday, October 11, on the issue of blacklisted Benin Republic universities and the collaboration with Nigerian private polytechnics in the certificate scandal.

“That prompted us that we needed to investigate, as we used to do when we get any information about any abuse of the standards, as far as technical and vocational education is concerned.

In his remarks, the Head of NBTE Legal Department, Sanusi Lawan, stressed that the agency was committed to ensuring that issues of fraudulent practices among polytechnics and monotechnics across the country became a thing of the past.

These universities have lost recognition of the federal government based on failure to meet the parameters and standards enunciated by the Nigerian government for recognizing foreign degrees. To find a way around the hurdles placed by the Nigerian government, these universities now obtain Higher National Diploma and National Diploma certificates for their graduates and students due for graduation through the private polytechnics.

Ade Abatemi, a civil servant in Kogi state wondered how such fraud could go unnoticed until a national newspaper conducted investigations through undercover reporter.

“Honestly, this beats my imagination, what are the various education agencies including the parent ministry doing? This is a national embarrassment. This is nothing but a failure of the oversight function of the Federal Ministry of Education.”

For Anthony Awunnor, a legal practitioner, “This exposure by a national newspaper on the shenanigans between some polytechnics in Nigeria and some black listed universities in Benin Republic should be an eye opener on the need for government ministries and agencies to be alive to their duties. What do they do with huge allocations they collect? This kind of thing has a way of affecting efforts to revamp the declining standards, most of these universities in Benin Republic are substandard, they allegedly sell certificates to who ever are willing to buy.”

Alice Emeyonu, a school proprietress stressed the need to sanction polytechnics involved in the scheme. “I think there’s need for the Federal Government to wield the big sticks on any polytechnics involved in the fraud after thorough investigations. This kind of thing is not good for our image as a nation.

But Prof. Bityong Gyang, a sociologist told Business Hallmark that “We need total cleansing of the system, how can this kind of thing be going on at that level without the collusion of some people at NYSC, JAMB and even the ministry?

“It’s hard to believe. Corruption will kill this country. Let us wait for the result of their investigation”.

Blacklisted Benin varsities

Recall that in 2024, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Education, made public the suspension of evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from the Republic of Benin and Togo.

Over 45 Beninoise and Togolese universities were affected by the suspension as at that time the Federal Government took the decision. The decision came on the heels of a report by Daily Nigerian, which ran an expose on the activities of a degree mill in Cotonou, a major city in Benin Republic.

An undercover reporter with the newspaper had collected a degree from the university within six weeks and even participated in the mandatory NYSC in Nigeria.

Following their blacklist by the Nigerian authorities, some of the affected universities turned to private polytechnics to facilitate NYSC enrolment for their Nigerian graduates.

A graduate of one of the blacklisted universities in Porto Novo, Mayokun, claimed that his academic records had been forwarded to a Nigerian private polytechnic for processing. He noted that some of his classmates had already been processed and were awaiting their NYSC call-up letters, expected before December.

Another graduate of one of the blacklisted universities in Benin Republic, who craved anonymity, told Business Hallmark that an important member of the school’s management informed them about the ‘special package’ after the Nigerian government blacklisted institutions in the country.

“When universities in Benin Republic went out of favor and were blacklisted by the Nigerian government the university told us that we should not bother as arrangements had been made to get us enrolled for NYSC through some polytechnics in Nigeria.

“They said though our university certificates were no longer valid for NYSC, they could help us through a private polytechnic in Nigeria.

“A key member of the university told us that we would be able to go for NYSC using the Nigerian polytechnic and that we would be issued National Diploma and Higher National Diploma certificates from that school.

“He also directed us to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s office in Ikoyi, where we met a man who gave us a PIN for registration. When we got there, the man already knew we were from him.”

“He noted that many schools in Benin Republic were collaborating with Nigerian polytechnics to ensure their students participated in the NYSC.

In a report, a graduate identified as Isa noted that, “A private polytechnic in Abia State was arranged for us. The last time I spoke with the registrar, he told me that our names had already been submitted to NYSC. However, they need a few other graduates to go for mobilization before our turn.

A university administrator in Porto Novo, who was also part of the syndicate before he repented and backed out , according to Punch undercover reporter noted that many banned institutions in Benin Republic were collaborating with Nigerian polytechnics to facilitate NYSC enrolment for their graduates.

“After obtaining the certificate from the Benin Republic, we wait for the polytechnic to include the students’ names in the senate list. In Nigeria, NYSC uses the senate list, unlike in the Benin Republic, where they used an evaluation letter.

“Later, the students will be asked to pay some amount of money for the process to begin. When they’ve made the payment, the Nigerian polytechnics will request their transcripts from us and then graduate the students as theirs.

“The Nigerian government says it is ready to reinstate our schools in Benin Republic, but the fee they’re requesting is extremely high. None of the schools in Benin can afford it because they have thousands of students, and the total fee is enormous.

However, schools in Togo, who are also affected, have paid the required amount and have now been cleared,” he added.

A lady identified as Wunmi, according to report, revealed that her brother, who graduated from one of the blacklisted universities, was awaiting NYSC call-up through the fraudulent scheme. According to her, payment was made to secure a slot from a private polytechnic in Ekiti State.

“I paid a total of N500,000 for the package on behalf of my brother. It was a member of the management at the Benin Republic university where he graduated who introduced us to the arrangement.

They assured me there was nothing to worry about, as many graduates from the same university had followed the same route and were already serving in the NYSC,” she said.

An official of Esfam-Benin University, one of those indicted by Punch report, Femi Simon, had denied that the university was involved in such a fraudulent scheme.

Responding to the allegations of NYSC complicity, the acting NYSC Director of Press and Public Relations, Carol Embu, in a release noted that the NYSC was not aware of the situation.

She said, “We are not aware of this. Foreign graduates are cleared by the Ministry of Education. All foreign graduates pass through them.”

Before setting up the high power investigative team, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Folashade Omoboriowo, had earlier said that the report could not be true, adding that it was not possible.

Omoboriowo stated that, “In fact, we created a portal to streamline this. The portal was modified and used for data capturing for NYSC to mobilise HND students.

In his reaction, the National Chairman of the Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria, Dr. Usman Tunga, in a release noted that he wasn’t aware of such an occurrence.

“I am not aware of any polytechnic that is doing such to the best of my knowledge. If it is happening, it has not come to my knowledge”.